Do We Really Need a Web Site?
"Why do we want a web site?" If you are thinking this, then we would
simply ask you some questions:
- Do you advertise in the traditional media?
- Do you have a brochure or other promotional material?
- Would you like potential customers or investors to have easy access to information about
you?
- Would you like your products or services publicised world-wide?
- Would you like to sell products or services online?
If your answer to any of these questions is "Yes" then you should have a web
site.
There's No Rush - We'll Deal With It When We've Got Time
...and in the meantime, your competitors will be gaining a commercial advantage over
you.
There's never a good time to carry out marketing: it's no use waiting until the work
dries up before you do it, and yet when you should be marketing, you're just too
busy.
If you already have promotional material such as a company brochure, we can take that
and turn it into a proper web site in very little time at all. Realistically, the
more content you want for the web site, the longer it will take; but even for the most
complex of sites, we'd be planning on having your site up and running within weeks rather
than months - the quicker you provide the copy, the quicker the site gets put together.
Why Should We Choose Web Designers?
Nowadays, it seems that everyone knows someone who can design a web site. We'd be
dishonest if we didn't acknowledge that anyone who is fairly computer-literate can write
some text and paste some clipart onto a page and call it a web site. But the problem
with that approach is that the code generated can be very sloppy, incomplete and slow to
load.
Why then should you choose a professional web design company? The answer lies in what
kind of web site your business should have - poor marketing or presentation reflects badly
upon your business and an amateur-ish or poorly-designed web site will not present the
corporate identity you've sought so hard to establish. We design web sites of the
highest quality and can include
virtual panoramas of your premises as part of the service - why not judge for yourself and see our Clients'
sites?
It seems some unscrupulous web design firms also like to have us
develop their own sites for free: we have had to take action on
over twenty occasions so far against other firms who have used our logos, copy
text or indeed a complete copy of this site as their own. Fortunately
our in-house investigation and legal teams have been able to deal with
such copyright violations quickly and effectively.
How Can We Sell Goods or Services Online?
Web Designers is an Actinic Authorised Partner which means
that we can supply, develop, host and support the full range of
Actinic e-commerce solutions including Actinic Catalog, Catalog LE and
Business.
Formed in 1996, Actinic Software
is a UK-based company developing Internet commerce solutions. Actinic
is backed by 3i, Europe's leading venture capital fund, and features a
technical, sales and marketing team with more than 100 years combined
experience in the IT industry. Actinic Catalog, the award-winning
flagship product, has established the company as the UK's leading
Internet Commerce supplier. Actinic has sales bases in Weybridge
(Surrey), East Brunswick (New Jersey) and a technical centre in
Warwickshire, plus international distributors. |
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Telephone us on +44 (0)1953 606158, fax us on +44 (0)1953 606185 or
e-mail us
for further information.
How Will Our Site Look To Visitors?
You need to ensure your web site looks just as good in the latest version of
Microsoft's Internet Explorer as it does in earlier versions of Netscape
and whether the same holds true on a PC or a Mac. You also
need to ensure that the text and graphics load as quickly as possible so as not to deter
visitors to your site from staying for a good look around.
We will discuss with you your target market and demographic and code your pages
accordingly: that's why you're paying professionals - to do a professional job.
How Will Visitors Find Out About Our Site?
Firstly, we would suggest that you publicise the URL yourself: include it on
letterheads, stationery, business cards, brochures and traditional advertising and don't
forget to tell your Clients and Customers!
Secondly, we can promote your web site on the Internet itself. There is more to
the process than meets the eye and it is an ongoing process. There are thousands of
search engines, news groups, banner advertising firms, link exchanges and the like, most
of which will not be appropriate for your business. We can advise you on how your web site
should be promoted and then we can carry out that promotion for you.
There are companies guaranteeing your web site's positioning in the top ten listings on
the major search engines. We do not: your site's listing is quite frankly a matter for
those search engines and no-one can provide an absolute guarantee about the placement of
your site in the rankings as it will vary from day to day and from search engine to search
engine.
Each search engine (AltaVista, Yahoo, Lycos, Excite, etc.) has its own criteria for
ranking web sites and strict rules which must be followed to ensure your site is not
removed altogether.
We will publicise your web site as part of the initial design service to the major
search engines and relevant news groups and can continue to do so:
ask us for a price for this.
What Happens After The Site 'Goes Live'?
This is another reason to choose a professional web design company for your site.
Will the 'friend of a friend' still be there after the web site is finished to
update it, extend it and even redevelop it for a new look?
Our ethos is to develop long-term relationships with our Clients - it's good for our
business and it's good for your business.
Why Shouldn't We Just Use The People Who Do Our Brochures?
There is an often-quoted mantra - "The Web Is Not Print" - that really does
apply to designing web sites. We've seen too many sites originally written for
printed media and then ported to the web with no thought for image sizes, bloated HTML,
missing META and ALT tags, etc. The crossover between web and print is more
difficult than you may think. Our view? We don't dabble in print advertising
because we know web design. It's a pity more media design companies don't stick to
what they know...
OK, How Much?
Our web sites start from as little as £500, depending upon the complexity, number of
pages, graphics, etc.
Our advice is to sit down with a pen and pad and map out your vision of your site.
Then call or e-mail us to set up an initial consultation and we can take it from
there, giving you a budget price or quotation for your web site.
Any Questions?
Why not telephone us on +44 (0)1953 606158, fax us on +44 (0)1953 606185 or
contact us to explore the
possibilities.
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